Formula 1

[JD2168]

A great recovery drive from Max Verstappen going from the Pit Lane to the Podium.

I personally thought that the Piastri, Antonelli, Leclerc incident was a racing incident & that Charles was unlucky as he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A good win for Norris but Max’s recovery does give the question of if he had started up the front as normal would he have won or Norris as McLaren’s race pace wasn’t brilliant.

A very good weekend overall for Antonelli, beating Russell during the weekend & getting the podium.

The surprise of the weekend was the new contract for Franco Colapinto at Alpine despite scoring no points & causing plenty of damage. Clearly his sponsorship money must be pretty good.

 

[Leyland Bus]

A great recovery drive from Max Verstappen going from the Pit Lane to the Podium.

I personally thought that the Piastri, Antonelli, Leclerc incident was a racing incident & that Charles was unlucky as he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A good win for Norris but Max’s recovery does give the question of if he had started up the front as normal would he have won or Norris as McLaren’s race pace wasn’t brilliant.

A very good weekend overall for Antonelli, beating Russell during the weekend & getting the podium.

The surprise of the weekend was the new contract for Franco Colapinto at Alpine despite scoring no points & causing plenty of damage. Clearly his sponsorship money must be pretty good.

I think alot of Max's pace was down to his new engine. Had he qualified better, he wouldn't have had that and if the sprint was anything to go by, then no... but it was a very good comeback regardless, especially considering that he picked up a puncture on his hard tyres, ending that stint early and dropping him back down the order.

After berating Norris earlier in the thread, its nice to see he has got grip of himself and start to turn the momentum back in his favor, just as Piastri goes the other way. Hr should have done it sooner but better late than never...

 

[DarloRich]

I personally thought that the Piastri, Antonelli, Leclerc incident was a racing incident & that Charles was unlucky as he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Piastri may say that he was in control of the maneuverer ( he looked locked up to me) and that Antonelli turned in but still I thought he caused a crash that took two cars out of the race and was rightly punished for that.

Unless you are Max Verstappen you are going to get punished for that kind of thing

 

[DarloRich]

Both McLarens thrown out of the Las Vegas Grand Prix for skid block wear. Verstappen suddenly moves back into title contention.

Norris leads both Verstappen & Piastri by 24 points

 

[najaB]

Both McLarens thrown out of the Las Vegas Grand Prix for skid block wear. Verstappen suddenly moves back into title contention.

Norris leads both Verstappen & Piastri by 24 points

FIA handing Verstappen another title.

 

[66701GBRF]

FIA handing Verstappen another title.

Depending who you speak to the FIA have been helping McLaren.

 

[EYFanatic]

Unless you are Max Verstappen you are going to get punished for that kind of thing

If memory serves, Hamilton did that not so long ago at Silverstone punting Max into the wall and got away with it

 

[D365]

If memory serves, Hamilton did that not so long ago at Silverstone punting Max into the wall and got away with it

Hamilton was awarded a ten second second time penalty for the incident as being predominantly at fault. This was served during a pit stop.

 

[EYFanatic]

A 10 second was/is nothing in the scheme of things - should have got points on his license

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Both McLarens thrown out of the Las Vegas Grand Prix for skid block wear. Verstappen suddenly moves back into title contention.

Norris leads both Verstappen & Piastri by 24 points

Not great but Piastri also benefits here as the gap to Norris hasn't increased

 

[DarloRich]

FIA handing Verstappen another title.

How? Lets not be silly.

If memory serves, Hamilton did that not so long ago at Silverstone punting Max into the wall and got away with it

Come on - we ALL know what Verstappen is like. His entire approach is yield or crash. He gets away with poor behaviour time and time again and then moans when someone choses crash!

 

[JD2168]

After the excellent qualifying session in wet conditions it was a pretty decent race.

Max won comfortably & it makes me wonder if McLaren had an idea of the skid plank wear issue when Lando started to slow down dramatically at the end of the race by lifting & coasting was to try and reduce the plank wear.

The disqualifications do make the end of the season more interesting with Max more in the running. He is level with Oscar but Piastri’s poor form recently doesn’t make him a strong contender

Lewis Hamilton’s quotes make me feel as though he might have been better retiring at the end of last season rather than continuing with Ferrari as he has not enjoyed the season at all

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

After the excellent qualifying session in wet conditions it was a pretty decent race.

Max won comfortably & it makes me wonder if McLaren had an idea of the skid plank wear issue when Lando started to slow down dramatically at the end of the race by lifting & coasting was to try and reduce the plank wear.

The disqualifications do make the end of the season more interesting with Max more in the running. He is level with Oscar but Piastri’s poor form recently doesn’t make him a strong contender

one slip up by Norris and hes back in the hunt. All to play for

Lewis Hamilton’s quotes make me feel as though he might have been better retiring at the end of last season rather than continuing with Ferrari as he has not enjoyed the season at all

Antonelli ran an excellent rate wrung the life out of the tyres and kept the big boys behind

 

[DarloRich]

Lewis Hamilton’s quotes make me feel as though he might have been better retiring at the end of last season rather than continuing with Ferrari as he has not enjoyed the season at all

he would have retired after what should have been his 8th championship, imo, but he was robbed so has carried racing desperately hoping he can reclaim the title. He would have been better staying with Mercedes frankly. Ferrari are all over the shop and have been for years.

I don't know if he is past it but his fire has gone out.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

he would have retired after what should have been his 8th championship, imo, but he was robbed so has carried racing desperately hoping he can reclaim the title. He would have been better staying with Mercedes frankly. Ferrari are all over the shop and have been for years.

I don't know if he is past it but his fire has gone out.

He should have left on a high now he risks just fading out as yesterdays man.

 

[DarloRich]

He should have left on a high now he risks just fading out as yesterdays man.

exactly - he will end up like Alonso: endlessly chasing something that will never come again

 

[EYFanatic]

exactly - he will end up like Alonso: endlessly chasing something that will never come again

Or Massa

 

[najaB]

He should have left on a high now he risks just fading out as yesterdays man.

I think had he lost the 2021 championship in any other manner he might have, but I can totally understand why he felt cheated and how hard it would have been to just walk away.

 

[Tetchytyke]

If memory serves, Hamilton did that not so long ago at Silverstone punting Max into the wall and got away with it

Verstappen put himself in the wall and his stupidity in trying to hang around the outside at Copse almost cost him the title. He threw away at least 18 points that day.

Hamilton was punished for the incident, though. He got a ten second time penalty.

 

[gswindale]

I see that Adrian Newey is replacing Andy Cowell as team principal at Aston Martin for next season.

He's certainly been around the paddock long enough to lead a team, but will the team lose out from not having him fully devoted to a design role?

 

[EYFanatic]

I see that Adrian Newey is replacing Andy Cowell as team principal at Aston Martin for next season.

He's certainly been around the paddock long enough to lead a team, but will the team lose out from not having him fully devoted to a design role?

Brawn did rather well as memory serves

 

[Leyland Bus]

Brawn did rather well as memory serves

Andrea Stella isn't doing threebad at McLaren either... It's certainly an interesting move, didn't see that one coming...

 

[stuart81]

I wonder if it’s a move to keep a certain Mr Horner away?

 

[Darandio]

I wonder if it’s a move to keep a certain Mr Horner away?

You'd think so but there are reports elsewhere that Newey showed Horner around the Aston Martin factory last night. This despite the fact that they had a well publicised falling out!

 

[D365]

I noticed recently that a number of the current team principals are engineers by trade. Stella (McLaren), Mekies (Red Bull), Permane (RB), Vowles (Williams), Komatsu (Haas). Krack, Cowell and Newey (Aston Martin) are all engineers. And Binotto is COO/CTO at Sauber (soon to be Audi).

 

[DarloRich]

I noticed recently that a number of the current team principals are engineers by trade. Stella (McLaren), Mekies (Red Bull), Permane (RB), Vowles (Williams), Komatsu (Haas). Krack, Cowell and Newey (Aston Martin) are all engineers. And Binotto is COO/CTO at Sauber (soon to be Audi).

In recent years there has been a move from the business orientated team leader to an engineering orientated team leadership

 

[JD2168]

After a dreadful sprint race which Oscar Piastri won from George Russell in second, Lando Norris in third & Max Verstappen in fourth, Max Verstappen has won the Qatar Grand Prix from Oscar Piastri & Carlos Sainz.

The race hinged on a lap 7 safety car after a crash between Nico Hulkenberg & Pierre Gasly. Due to the tyres only able to run a maximum of 25 laps all the field except the McLaren’s pitted for new tyres which meant they could run 2 even stints of 25 laps. The McLaren’s had to try & build a gap of 26 seconds on Max to win without trying to overtake which was as difficult as Monaco on this circuit.

The McLaren’s didn’t have this pace & after the 2 stops Oscar was behind Max by 14 seconds but could only close to 7 by the end. Lando was behind Carlos & Kimi Antonelli but was only able to pass Antonelli when Kimi made a mistake.

This means there will be a 3 way fight at the title decider in Abu Dhabi next weekend with Lando leading by 12 from Max with Oscar a further 4 behind.

Behind Antonelli it finished Russell, Alonso, Leclerc on a weekend where Ferrari had no pace at all, Lawson & Tsunoda rounded out the points.

It was another dreadful weekend for Lewis Hamilton who went out in Q1 in both qualifying sessions & didn’t trouble the points at all.

 

[Lampshade]

Max has to be favourite now, McLaren are doing a masterclass in choking, Red Bull’s experience will be key.

 

[Leyland Bus]

Max has to be favourite now, McLaren are doing a masterclass in choking, Red Bull’s experience will be key.

Norris only has to finish 3rd next time out to clinch the WDC, surely McLaren can't nause that up, surely????

 

[gabrielhj07]

Norris only has to finish 3rd next time out to clinch the WDC, surely McLaren can't nause that up, surely????

They're trying!